


Breaking Tradition

by ladyoakenshields



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Halloween, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-31
Updated: 2013-11-02
Packaged: 2017-12-31 02:24:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1026170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyoakenshields/pseuds/ladyoakenshields
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bilbo isn't looking forward to attending his cousin's huge annual Halloween Party with his nephew Frodo and Thorin suggests that instead he bring him along trick or treating with his young nephews, Fili and Kili. Everyone agrees this is most definitely the best halloween ever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Bilbo smiled as he spotted the many stores with their Halloween decorations out on display. He loved this time of year with all the colors and the colder weather starting to settle in. Bilbo buried his nose in his favorite maroon scarf as he hurried to the coffee shop he’d agreed to meet Thorin at on the early October morning. He spotted Thorin’s salt and pepper hair in a corner table by the window. 

“Thorin, I’m sorry,” Bilbo breathed, plopping into the chair opposite. 

“It’s all right.” Thorin looked amused as Bilbo caught his breath. He pushed a muffin and his usual tea towards Bilbo as he got situated and shed his scarf and jacket. 

“Oh, thank you!” Bilbo looked surprised Thorin had already bought his usual combination when they met for these coffee dates. 

“Everything okay?” Thorin looked worried at Bilbo’s frantic state.

“Fine! Fine, I just got caught up after dropping Frodo off…The parents are putting together a Halloween party for the class and is looking for parent volunteers…I’m still not used to these kind of parent duties,” Bilbo groaned, gratefully accepting the tea and muffin Thorin had got for him. 

It had been just over two years since Bilbo had adopted his young nephew after Frodo’s parents had been killed in a car accident. When Bilbo was younger he’d never expected to have a family of his own and never envisioned himself as a parent. But when young Frodo had been left an orphan after the tragic accident, there was a scramble to figure out where the orphaned child would go. The will and testament of Bilbo’s cousins hadn’t specified who the child would go to if anything had happened.  Certainly he couldn’t go into foster care.  He had plenty of family who had vied for custody of Frodo but they already had full families and could hardly support another child.  Bilbo was one of the few in the family who had the room, money and time for the young child. The Baggins estate was large and Bilbo was the sole heir after his parents had died years before.  He was able to live off of the large inheritance given to him by his parents and would be able to support a child on his own. 

“You’re getting better,” Thorin commented with a small smile over his own coffee. “You were an absolute mess when I met you.” Bilbo shot Thorin a stern look before a smile overtook his own lips as he remembered their first meeting fondly. 

He’d met Thorin a little over a year ago when Frodo was just starting kindergarten. Bilbo had an appointment with one of the schools counselors to let them know about Frodo’s situation.  Just after the accident Frodo had been distant with everyone and rarely spoke. Bilbo was concerned it would affect his schooling and education, which was so crucial during these early stages and first experiences in a classroom. Or rather that was what Bilbo had read on several parenting websites that he referenced almost on a daily basis at that time.   

On his way out he ran straight into Thorin who was coming out of the principal's office. Thorin caught Bilbo before he could land square on his face in the middle of the school’s front office. He quickly picked himself up and apologized profusely for not watching where he was going. 

“No, no it’s all right!” Thorin quickly brushed off the accident. “I wasn’t watching where I was going either. I suppose we’re both a bit preoccupied. Having to meet with anyone at this school puts me on edge…one of my boys have been getting into fights and not saying anything…My mind’s a little scattered at the moment,” Thorin explained. “Would you like me to walk you out?” he had offered. Bilbo blushed and allowed the kind stranger to walk him to his car.  As they walked to the parking lot, Bilbo had unloaded his entire situation on the unsuspecting man without even knowing his name. 

“I’m sorry,” he had apologized as they reached the parking lot. “I haven’t really had anyone else to talk to about this and seeing you’re a parent…”

“Uncle, actually,” Thorin corrected. He had given a brief explanation about his own situation with his sister and two nephews whose father passed away when their youngest was only a few months old, so Thorin helped his sister raise them. They had stood and talked in the parking lot of the school for quite a while before finally bidding each other goodbye. After running into each other a few school events and finally properly introducing themselves, they swapped numbers and began seeing each other and setting up playdates for their nephews. Currently, it had been nearly six months since Thorin proposed they officially start dating. 

“I wouldn’t say I was a _mess,_ ” Bilbo chuckled, quickly pulled himself from his reminiscing, as a blush crawled over his face. “Just…scattered.” Bilbo gave Thorin a furtive look. 

“Ah, right, of course.” Thorin gave Bilbo a cheeky smile.

The conversation soon turned away from the school and kids as Bilbo asked Thorin how work was going. Thorin, like Bilbo, was well endowed and came from a successful family.  Bilbo didn’t know much about their work but he knew both he and his sister occupied high positions at Erebor Inc., a mining company, and that their father was CEO despite his deteriorating health. Thorin was posed to 'officially' take over the company very soon and Bilbo was as always entirely grateful Thorin still had time to see him. 

Thorin never acted as if it were a big deal to take time out of his schedule but Bilbo knew how valuable his time was. Usually Bilbo was able to accommodate Thorin’s busy schedule.  He filled his time as a freelance writer and Bilbo had several published articles and a few novels he had started for his own enjoyment. His hours were rather up to him and he could write whenever he needed.  With the new addition to his household, this was more helpful than ever. 

Soon enough their topic of conversation turned back to the kids and the upcoming holiday. 

“The parents really are nuts in Frodo’s class, I feel bad for some of the kids because their parents are so high-strung!” Bilbo laughed. “They’re controlling, too.  Like I said, they were already handing out duties for the party this morning at drop-off and it certainly wasn’t optional.  Luckily, I only got landed with sending Frodo with plates and napkins and plastic utensils,” Bilbo explained. 

“I remember Dis getting stuck with organizing activities for Fili's class at the last minute,” Thorin smiled, reminding Bilbo it could be worse. “We were on Google all night trying to find appropriate Halloween themed games for second graders.”

“That doesn’t sound like fun.” Bilbo shook his head. “I mean, I feel like I should be more involved but…I just _can’t_. The parents who volunteer… _sheesh._ ” Bilbo trailed off.

“Don’t worry about it too much.” Thorin shrugged. “At least the kids will have fun if there are that many parents wanting to be involved. You run into trouble when _no one_ volunteers. Then the teachers always seem to corner you at Parent-Teacher conferences and practically beg you for help.” 

“Oh, boy,” Bilbo sighed. 

“What are you and Frodo doing Halloween night, by the way?” Thorin asked. 

“I’m not sure yet. Last year I took him to the party my cousins hold every year mostly for family and some of their friends, but neither one of us had much fun.  I don’t know if it was because it was too soon after the accident or if there were too many people…it just wasn’t very fun at all.” Bilbo crossed his arms with a sigh. “Why, what are your plans?”

“Dis is having me take the boys out trick or treating like I usually do.” Thorin explained. “Perhaps you and Frodo would like to join us?” he offered. 

“Oh, Frodo would love that. You know how much he looks up to Fili and Kili. He'd be thrilled,” Bilbo smiled warmly. “And our neighborhood isn’t the _best_ for trick or treating. Most people are out at parties or they’re old people who go to bed at six or whatever.”

“Oh good.” Thorin grinned. He quickly checked his watch and realized what time it was. “Oh, is that the time?  My sister will kill me for being late. I told her I’d meet with her before she had to leave the office to pick up the boys…” Thorin jumped up.  Bilbo still couldn’t understand how Thorin could work with his sister as much as he did, as well as practically living with her and taking care of the boys. Bilbo didn’t have siblings but he had cousins that were as good as. He couldn’t imagine spending all that time with them.  Thorin and Dis both harassed each other as siblings do, but he could tell underneath the relentless teasing they cared for each other greatly. 

“And I have a few errands to run before picking Frodo up.” Bilbo stood up as well pulling on his own coat and scarf and finding his car keys. Thorin grabbed both of their empty cups to throw away and they headed out of the coffee shop. 

“We’ll have to get together this weekend, Kili’s been begging to have Frodo over for a while now,” Thorin told Bilbo. “Some new video game he has, I don’t know.”

“That sounds good. We’re going over to my cousin’s on Saturday afternoon. But Friday evening or Sunday would be good.” Bilbo tried to mentally recall his calendar. 

“I’ll call you before then and we’ll figure it out,” Thorin promised. 

“So I’ll see you this weekend?” Bilbo looked up to Thorin with a smile. Thorin leaned down and gently pressed a kiss against his lips in response. Bilbo could feel Thorin’s scratchy beard tickle him and he could taste the bitter coffee on Thorin’s lips. He grinned as Thorin pulled away and took his time adjusting Bilbo’s scarf. “Come on, I thought you said you’d be late.”

“It’s worth it,” Thorin grinned back, impishly.

“Shut up,” Bilbo playfully pushed Thorin’s chest with a laugh. “Don’t get in trouble because of me. I’ll see you this weekend.”

“See you,” Thorin gave one last quick kiss before turning towards his own car. Bilbo rolled his eyes even though Thorin could no longer see him as Bilbo got into his own car. 

**x**

“You’re not going to Lobelia’s Halloween Party?” Bilbo’s cousin, Esmeralda gave a disappointed sigh. Bilbo felt guilty as he watched Esmeralda’s son, Merry, tackle Frodo in their puffy coats outside in the cold. Frodo only giggled and squealed in retaliation, trying to break free of his elder cousin’s grip before grabbing a handful of fallen leaves and throwing them in Merry’s face. 

“I’m sorry.” Bilbo sighed. “Last year we didn’t have much fun. Lobelia always has so many people over…and Thorin invited us to go trick or treating with his two boys, I think Frodo would much rather do that than be at Lobelia’s all night.”

“Of course this has something to do with Thorin,” Esmeralda smiled, rolling her eyes. “Are you sure you don’t mean _you_ would much rather do that than be at Lobelia’s?”

“Em, don’t be like that.” Bilbo rolled his eyes. “But yes, maybe a little bit.”

“I can’t believe you, Bilbo Baggins.” Esmeralda teasingly threw her hands in the air. “But I’ve heard how much Frodo talks about those boys, Fili and Kili was it?”

“Yes,” Bilbo nodded. 

“Are they close to his age?” Esmeralda asked.  “I can’t remember what you said.”

“They’re older.  Kili is a year older and Fili is three or four years older than Kili.” Bilbo reminded his cousin.  Before Esmeralda could reply the doorbell sounded through the house.  She jumped up from her spot and hurried to the front door. 

“Tina!” Esmeralda’s shrill greeting came from the front entryway. Bilbo slowly came to the front door to see Esmeralda greeting her sister-in-law, Eglantine, with her son Pippin.  “Merry and Frodo are in the back, Pip.” Esmeralda pointed out for the young boy. Bilbo smiled at Pippin who was a year younger than Frodo.  The young boy smiled at Bilbo before he enthusiastically galloped through the house to the back door. He struggled to pull it open and then once he got it, he left it open as he launched himself into the yard with his cousins, who cheered in delight their other cousin had arrived. 

“…Is that true, Bilbo?”

“Huh?” Bilbo looked sheepish that he hadn’t been listening to his cousins’ conversation. 

“You’re not going to Lobelia’s party? You know she’s going to throw a fit,” Tina sighed. 

“She’ll hardly notice, there’s so many people there every year.” Bilbo shrugged. 

“She’ll notice if you’re not there, I promise.” Esmeralda bit her lip. 

“I’ll do something beforehand to make it up to her.” Bilbo promised. “It’s just…I happen to have better plans this year, all right?”

“Do you now?” Tina asked. 

“Thorin’s taking his boys trick or treating and invited Frodo and I along,” Bilbo explained with a small smirk. 

“Of course.” Tina rolled her eyes.  “When are we going to meet this charming man? You've been dating for ages,” Bilbo's cousin pleaded.

“I’ll…arrange something soon.  I promise. He's just very busy.” Bilbo hesitantly explained to his cousins.  As they moved to sit down again, Bilbo’s phone began to go off in his pocket.  He pulled it out and saw Thorin’s name across the screen.  He excused himself and walked into the next room before picking it up. 

“Hey,” Bilbo answered the phone with a grin.

“Hey yourself,” Thorin replied. 

“What’s up?” Bilbo asked throwing a glance over his shoulder to his two cousins.  He felt like they were probably gossiping about him.  They _loved_ their gossip. 

“About tomorrow,” Thorin started.  They’d decided a few days ago it’d be best if they got together that Sunday.  “My sister decided she wanted to have you over for dinner tomorrow, I hope that’s okay.”

“Yeah, of course. That’d be great.” Bilbo smiled to himself. 

“I can come pick you and Frodo up around two?” Thorin suggested. 

“Okay, that sounds fine.”

“Dis suggested we should take the boys shopping for Halloween costumes then, if Frodo doesn’t have his already,” Thorin offered.

“Oh, yeah.” Bilbo nodded to the empty room.  “We haven’t had a chance to go look yet. That’d be great.”

“Good, good…Do you have time to talk?” Thorin asked.  Bilbo’s stomach dropped.

“Is something wrong?” Bilbo asked hesitantly. 

“No, no!  I just wanted to chat.” Thorin chuckled. 

“Don’t sound so serious next time!” Bilbo breathed a sigh of relief. “I actually don’t have a lot of time, I’m at my cousin’s now and I think they’re gossiping about me.” Bilbo threw another cautionary glance over his shoulder. 

“Let them gossip.” Thorin didn’t seem bothered by it.  “Unless they’re spreading rumors to the entire world that you’re a terrible person, of course. Then I’ll deal with them.”

“That really isn’t necessary,” Bilbo chuckled before he heard the back door open and shrieks that sounded distinctly like Frodo.  “I’ll call you back,” Bilbo quickly reacted, before hanging up and hurrying out of the room to see his cousins rushing to the backdoor to see what the fuss was.

“Frodo, dear, what happened?” Tina asked as Frodo stepped inside with an upset look on his face. 

“Merry cheated at a game and said I lost!” Frodo declared as he tried to wipe tears away from his eyes. Bilbo hurried over and knelt down to Frodo’s level. 

“Whatever Frodo’s saying it isn’t true!” Merry hurried inside with Pippin beside him looking anxious. 

“He says you cheated at a game.” Bilbo looked up to the others to see what their side of the story was. 

“We didn’t cheat, we just changed the rules!” Merry explained.  “So it was more fair!”

“Merry, sweetheart, that is cheating,” Esmeralda explained to her son. 

“No it’s not!” Merry argued. 

“If you want to change the rules you have to do it at the beginning of the game so everyone knows to follow them all the way through. It’s not fair if you change them half way without everyone agreeing,” Esmeralda lectured the boys.  “So next time start the game over if you’re going to change the rules and make sure everyone agrees.  How about you apologize to Frodo for changing the rules?”

“All right.” Merry sighed.  “Sorry, Frodo.”

“It’s okay.” Frodo decided as he pulled off his coat.  The other two followed suit and they ran off to play inside.

Bilbo gave a relieved sigh that Frodo hadn’t been hurt or too upset about it. 

 “…So who was on the phone, Bilbo?” Tina turned back to Bilbo. 

“Oh, uh, Thorin.” Bilbo looked at his phone remembering how suddenly he’d hung up. There was a text from Thorin: _Everything okay?_

“Thought so,” Esmeralda smiled.  “Plans for this weekend? Maybe a hot date tonight?” Bilbo rolled his eyes.

“We’re going over there for a _play date_ tomorrow.” Bilbo explained, rubbing his eye as he hesitated before texting Thorin back:  _Fine. Just a dispute over a game they were playing, everyone’s alive._  Bilbo typed out slowly as his cousin’s began talking about some of their sons’ friends and the parents they’d encountered. Bilbo sat and listened quietly without much input.  Within the next couple hours, the adults began to wrap up their conversations and Bilbo called for Frodo so they could get ready to go.  Frodo reluctantly got ready to go. 

“Pip, we gotta get ready to go, too!” Tina called when only Frodo appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Finally Merry and Pippin were down the stairs and Tina helped Pippin back into his small jacket. 

“Can Frodo and Pip come over again tomorrow?” Merry begged his mother. 

“Tomorrow doesn’t work, dear. Frodo and Uncle Bilbo are busy and I’m sure Pip and Aunt Tina are too.” Esmeralda apologetically told her son. 

“We’ll come over again soon, I’m sure,” Bilbo told the disappointed boy.

“Okay,” Merry gave a dramatic sigh. They said their final goodbyes as Bilbo helped Frodo get strapped into his car seat in the back.

“How about we stop at the library on the way home?” Bilbo offered. 

“Yeah!” Frodo looked excited.  Bilbo had been meaning to pick up several books he had on hold there and he knew how much Frodo loved looking through the children's section.  Besides, it was on their way home anyway.

When they got there Bilbo picked up his books first and then let Frodo pull him to the children’s area. He let Frodo pick out three books that the young boy could read and Bilbo picked up a slightly more difficult read, a collection of short fantasy stories that Frodo had looked interested in. 

“Can we get that one too?” Frodo asked. 

“I don’t know if this is quite your reading level,” Bilbo explained with a frown. 

“Can _you_ read it to me?” Frodo begged. 

“All right, I can do that,” Bilbo agreed. They checked out the books and headed home and Bilbo heated something up for dinner for them. 

“You remember we’re going to Mister Thorin’s tomorrow to see Fili and Kili?” Bilbo reminded Frodo who nodded enthusiastically.  “Mister Thorin suggested we go look for Halloween costumes tomorrow with Fili and Kili, does that sound like fun?”

“Yeah!” Frodo bounced up and down excitedly.  “How far away is Halloween?”

“It’s in a couple weeks,” Bilbo replied.

“How many days is that?” Frodo asked. 

“Well, let’s see…today is…it should be…about nineteen days away?”

“ _Nineteen?_ ” Frodo looked incredulous.  “That’s forever!”

“It’s not as long as you think I promise,” Bilbo smiled.  “Now finish dinner and if you take a bath and get into pajamas early enough I can read you one of those stories from the book you got today.”

 

**x**

Thorin showed up precisely at two the next day. 

“Thorin’s here already and you don’t have your shoes on, Frodo!” Bilbo panicked looking out the window to Thorin’s car that just pulled up. Bilbo got out his phone and called Thorin as he searched for Frodo’s coat in the front closet.

“We’ll be out in a minute, Frodo’s getting his shoes on.” Bilbo explained when Thorin picked up. 

“No hurry,” Thorin laughed from the other end of the phone. 

“All right, see you in a few.” Bilbo hung up and stuffed his phone in his pocket as he held out the jacket for Frodo to put on when he finished strapping on his shoes.  They started out the front door and Bilbo turned and locked the door behind him. They got to Thorin’s car and Bilbo opened the back door for Frodo to crawl in. Thorin had one of Fili or Kili’s old car seats set up for Frodo to use. Bilbo got his nephew situated before closing the door and opening the passenger side door.

“Hello,” Bilbo smiled as he crawled into Thorin’s car leaning over to the driver’s seat to kiss Thorin hello. 

“Blech,” Frodo made a disgusted noise from the back seat. Bilbo laughed as Thorin turned to Frodo. 

“Hello to you too, Frodo,” Thorin teased, reaching back to tug on the young boy’s leg. 

“Hi, Mister Thorin,” Frodo responded, with a sneaky smile before Thorin turned back around.

“Are you excited for today?” Thorin looked back at Frodo in the rear view mirror as he put the car into drive to pull away from their home. 

“Yeah!” Frodo smiled excitedly. 

“Do you know what you’re going to be for Halloween?” Thorin asked. 

“Well, I didn’t until Uncle Bilbo was reading me a book last night. It was about a beautiful princess who was trapped in a tower because her parents were mean. And there was a dragon that guarded her tower! He was mean too but he was really awesome cause he could fly and breathe fire. And then there was a prince that came along to save the princess…but I still don’t understand how he really could have defeated the dragon. The dragon was definitely huge and the prince was really tiny! Do you think you could defeat a dragon, Mister Thorin?” Frodo posed the question.

“I think I’d find the courage, if your uncle was trapped in a tower and I had to rescue him,” Thorin replied with a smirk. Bilbo rolled his eyes, but Thorin didn’t catch it.

“Nuh-uh!  How would you do it?” Frodo asked. 

“How did the prince do it in your book?” Thorin returned the question with another question. 

“I asked you first!” Frodo retorted. 

“Well, let’s see. I would probably try to sneak up on the dragon so he wouldn’t see me.” Thorin carefully thought through the situation. 

“No, but this dragon has really good hearing,” Frodo explained. 

“Well, maybe I’m really good at sneaking,” Thorin countered. 

“No, you can’t sneak up on him it’s against the rules,” Frodo decided.

“Well, you didn’t tell me that!” Thorin puzzled. Bilbo listened in amusement as Thorin listed off ways he could save Bilbo from a tower guarded by a dragon with Bilbo adding in his input every now and again.

“No you couldn’t just charge at it! You’d kill yourself. Put some thought into it, my freedom is on the line.” Bilbo played along. 

“Let’s see _you_ defeat this dragon, hm?” Thorin snapped back playfully. 

“I could. I read the story and I know how to,” Bilbo teased. “Are you sure you’d pick Thorin for this quest, Frodo?  He’s not very good at this, is he?” 

“Maybe Mister Thorin should be the one in the tower!” Frodo laughed. “You can rescue him, Uncle Bilbo!”

“Don’t give up on me yet!” Thorin cried. After the exhausting discussion they finally approached Thorin's sister's home. 

“All right, you have to tell me, I give up,” Thorin declared as they pulled into the neighborhood. 

“You have to talk the dragon into showing you his weak spot! Then when he’s sleeping use it to your advantage!” Frodo explained as Thorin pulled into his sister’s driveway. 

“You didn’t tell me the dragon talked!” Thorin groaned as he pulled the key out of the ignition and they got out of the car. 

“All dragons talk!” Frodo protested as if it were common knowledge.

“All right, if you say so. You never answered what you want to be for Halloween, though.” Thorin pointed out as they walked up the driveway. 

“A dragon, of course!” Frodo declared. 

“Oh, yes… _of course_.” Thorin nodded. “And so are you say you're the dragon I’ll have to defeat to get to your uncle?”

“…Yeah!” Frodo looked as if he hadn’t considered it but it was the best idea he’d ever heard. 

“I won’t have much of a problem then,” Thorin scooped up the young boy under his arm as he walked into his sister’s house.  Frodo squealed in excitement and Dis immediately appeared in the entryway. 

“What on earth…?” she looked bewildered. 

“Sorry,” Bilbo apologized on Thorin and Frodo’s behalf. “Good to see you again, Dis,” Bilbo greeted. Dis rolled her eyes at her brother but gave a fond smile to Bilbo. 

“Nice to see you too, Bilbo,” Dis replied before shouting up the stairs, “Fili! Kili!  Mister Bilbo and Frodo are here now!”

There was a loud pounding as the two rambunctious boys sprinted down the stairs. The two boys charged the group at the front door as Thorin put Frodo down just in time for the two to tackle Frodo in a hug. Bilbo couldn’t help but smile and Frodo squealed with laughter. 

“Hi, Mister Bilbo.” Fili finally let go of Frodo. 

“Hi!” Kili followed suit. 

“Hello, boys.” Bilbo smiled. 

“C’mon!” Kili grabbed Frodo’s arm. 

“Don’t go too far we’re leaving soon for the Halloween store!” Thorin called.

“Okay, Uncle Thorin!” Kili replied as he hurried off up the stairs. 

“Where on earth do they get all that energy?” Bilbo breathed, feeling as if he needed to catch his breath after watching them.

“I have no idea.” Thorin admitted with a small chuckle. They sat down and talked with Dis for a little bit before deciding to head to the mall to look for costumes. Thorin called for the boys to come back downstairs.

“Remember how cold it’ll be Halloween night don’t let them get anything that’ll make them cold.”

“Dis, they’re going to be cold regardless unless they decide to dress as an Eskimo or something.” Thorin rolled his eyes.  “They’ll just have to wear their coats whether they like it or not.”

“They’ll fight you on that so I’ll let you break it to them.” Dis shrugged. Thorin gave a sigh before calling for the boys again.  They finally hurried down the stairs. 

“Now come on, coats and shoes,” Thorin told them  Bilbo went to fetch Frodo’s coat that had been shed when they came in. 

“Are we taking your car?” Bilbo asked hesitantly, imagining the back seat would be crowded for the kids. 

“We’ll take Dis’ car. We’ve already got the car seats in the back for Frodo,” Thorin explained helping Kili into his coat.  Soon they were ready to go and they went to go load up in Dis’ minivan. Bilbo strapped Frodo into the car seat set up in the back seat as Fili crawled into the third row and Thorin helped Kili with his booster seat. 

“I’ve got it, Uncle!” Kili declared as he strapped himself in. Thorin waited until his nephew was done and checked to make sure it was secure.

“Babies sit in baby seats!” Fili laughed as he strapped himself in, in the back of the car. 

“I’m not a _baby_! This isn’t a baby seat!” Kili argued. 

“Yes, it is,” Fili retorted.

“Boys, please,” Thorin groaned as he got into the drivers seat and started the car. 

“What are you going to be for Halloween, Frodo?” Fili leaned forward and poked Frodo on the shoulder. 

“I’m gonna be a dragon,” Frodo replied quickly.  “Cause Uncle Bilbo read me a story about a princess in a tower guarded by a dragon. So I want to be a dragon. You can be the prince and Kili can be the princess!” Frodo suggested excitedly. 

“I can’t be the princess! I’m _a boy_! Boys can’t be princesses, stupid!” Kili argued. 

“ _Kili,_ language! I’m not taking you out trick or treating at all if you’re going to talk like that,” Thorin scolded. “Apologize to Frodo.”

“Sorry…” Kili muttered. “Besides _I_ want to be the prince!” he continued. 

“You heard him, _I’m_ the prince,” Fili gave his brother a wicked grin.

“Okay, okay! You can both be princes. But one of you has to be in the tower.” Frodo delegated. 

“I’m not being saved by anyone!”

“I’m older so I should be the one doing the saving!” Fili reasoned. The bickering continued on the entire way to the mall. Bilbo rubbed his temple and admired Thorin’s skill of driving the minivan without being distracted by the kids screaming in the backseat about who would get to rescue who. Understandably, it was usually quiet whenever he took Frodo anywhere. He couldn’t imagine having more than Frodo all the time and having to constantly corral them. 

Eventually they reached the mall and Thorin found a parking spot and they headed towards the Halloween store.

“Don’t leave the store!” Thorin told the boys as they ran off to the area with the kid’s outfits. He heaved a sigh as he watched his two nephews hurry off. 

“Want to go find your costume?” Bilbo looked down at Frodo who clung to Bilbo’s shirt hesitantly looking around the store that was decked out in scary decorations. “They're just make believe.” Bilbo assured his nephew before catching sight of some of the more gruesome decorations that even terrified _him_. “Come on.” Bilbo ushered Frodo past the decor section and over to the section Fili and Kili had hurried over to with Thorin in tow. Bilbo and Frodo found a section of medieval inspired outfits and Frodo frowned at his choice of dragon outfits. 

“I like that this one is red. But I like this brown one better.” Frodo looked perplexed. 

“The red one looks like it’ll keep you warmer,” Bilbo suggested remembering Dis’ warning to Thorin. It had been quite a long time since he’d gone trick or treating but he remembered the biting winds and sometimes, wet Halloween nights. 

“Yeah…” Frodo sighed.  “I’ll do the red one.”

“Will you be happy with that decision or did you pick it just because I suggested it?” Bilbo made sure it was what Frodo wanted. 

“No, you’re right.” Frodo nodded with certainty. “I want this one.”

“All right, that wasn’t too bad then!” Bilbo looked relieved that Frodo was able to quickly make a decision. They turned to where Fili and Kili were attempting to make their decisions.  Thorin had at least five different costumes piled in his arms with Fili and Kili running back and forth grabbing different ones.

“No! If you do that I’m going to do this!” Fili held up a costume. Bilbo looked at the few costumes in Thorin’s hands. They consisted of a superhero, a werewolf, a skeleton and a knight and a ninja.

“How about a super-were-skeleton-ninja-knight?” Bilbo laughed at the costumes in Thorin’s arms. Thorin chuckled at Bilbo’s suggestion, and gently nudged him. 

“Don’t give them ideas.” Thorin grinned.  “They’re allowed _one_ costume, not five.”

“I’m getting this one.  I’ve decided.” Kili held up a Robin-Hood-esque costume that came with it’s own bow, arrows with suction cups on the ends, and quiver. 

“Only if you promise not to hurt anyone with that dangerous weapon, all right?” Thorin made his nephew promise. 

“I promise…” Kili nodded. 

“Okay, Fili, you’re the last one to decide.” Thorin turned to his eldest nephew. 

“Don’t rush me!” Fili called as he hurried up and down the aisles. “This is an important decision!”

“Oh, it is?” Thorin laughed at his nephew’s seriousness. 

“Yes!” Fili argued. Thorin gave a sigh and turned back to Bilbo and Frodo.

“I like your dragon costume, Frodo,” Thorin commented the costume Frodo held in his arms. 

“Uncle Bilbo helped me decide!” Frodo declared proudly.

“Well, you both have excellent taste.” Thorin gave a cheeky smile to Bilbo. While Fili continued to ponder his choices Bilbo decided to help Frodo find a bucket to collect his candy in.  After they picked out a pail that would hold a sufficient amount of candy, they returned and Fili was still trying to decide. Twenty minutes later Fili was down to a pirate or a vampire. 

“What do you want to wear more?” Thorin asked trying to help Fili come to a decision. 

“Pirates are awesome…but girls like vampires more, I think.” Fili looked stumped. 

“Oh, is that what this is about?” Thorin had a bemused look on his face. “In that case you should go with a pirate. You’ll have plenty of time to worry about girls later.”

“That’s _lame_ if you pick a costume because _girls_ like it.” Kili looked disgusted with Fili’s suggestion. 

“No it’s not!” Fili argued.  “I’ll be really cool!”

“You know Fili, it’s not those kind of vampires that girls like.” Bilbo looked over the Dracula-esque costume. 

“What?” Fili looked confused. 

“Yeah, they don’t like these old fashioned vampires. They like the new ones that sparkle in the sunlight,” Bilbo dissuaded Fili. 

“What kind of vampire is _that_?” Fili looked confused. 

“I’m just as confused as you are but it’s the truth.” Bilbo shrugged. 

“Okay, I’ll be the pirate,” Fili decided. Thorin looked thankful for Bilbo persuading his nephew to finally pick a costume. 

They headed towards the checkout and Bilbo pulled out his wallet to pay for Frodo’s outfit. 

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll pay for the costumes,” Thorin quickly offered. 

“You don’t have to do that, Thorin.” Bilbo pinched Thorin’s arm. 

“I’m the one who invited you to go with us,” Thorin explained, as they waited in the checkout line. 

“I would have had to get Frodo a costume anyway for my cousin’s party…or his party at school,” Bilbo argued. “I’m not going to let you.” Bilbo pulled Frodo’s costume into his arms before Thorin could protest. 

“All right,” Thorin shrugged, in resignation. He’d learned by now that it was impossible to win a fight against Bilbo once he’d made up his mind. Soon everything had been paid for and they returned to the car and they loaded up to get home. On the way home the boys in the back tried opening the costumes right away. 

“Don’t open them yet!” Thorin cried looking in the rear view mirror. “You’re going to lose pieces!” Bilbo turned around to see Kili trying hard to get into his bow and arrows set. 

“Your Uncle Thorin’s right, you can’t properly play with them while you’re in the car,” Bilbo added.  Kili let out a loud groan. 

“Go faster then!” Kili cried putting his bag down in frustration. 

“I will go the posted speed limits, no faster,” Thorin grumbled throwing another glance in the rear view mirror towards his disappointed nephews.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An idea I had a couple days before Halloween, ignored every responsibility for the past three days and wrote to get out just in time for the holiday! So I apologize if there were any glaring mistakes, I didn't have as much time as I usually allow myself to go back and edit;; 
> 
> Even cutting things like lots of little side plots, this ended up getting ridiculously out of hand.....
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

When they got home, the boys were already squirming out of their seats before they could be helped out. They jumped out of the car and ran inside. Bilbo and Thorin were close behind, shutting the door behind them. 

“Did you leave your uncle and Mister Bilbo at the Halloween store or what?” Bilbo could hear Dis calling to her sons.

“They’re being slow,” Fili complained. Dis smiled seeing Bilbo and Thorin finally reach the living room. 

“All right, let’s see what you’ve got.” Dis watched her boys pulling open their costumes.  “Robin Hood, a pirate and a dragon!  Well, that sure is a good group of costumes, I wouldn’t want to mess with you guys.”

Kili giggled as Dis helped him pull out the bow and arrows from the costume pack. He quickly figured out how to shoot the arrows and began to shoot them at Fili. The elder brother retaliated by pulling the plastic sword from his own costume and stabbing Kili with it. 

“You’re going to put each other’s eyes out! Stop it! If I’d known you were going to do this I wouldn’t have bought you those costumes!” Thorin groaned. 

“You honestly didn’t think they’d be doing this the moment they got home?” Dis looked incredulously at her brother. 

“I could have told you that,” Bilbo laughed. 

“Why on earth did you talk him into the pirate costume then?” Thorin looked exasperated. 

“Because I figured he needed a way to defend himself against Kili’s arrows,” Bilbo replied reasonably. Thorin continued to look frustrated. 

“Come on, let’s find a better way to use these or they’re going away for good and you’re not getting them back for Halloween,” Dis split the two up. “We’ll find you some inanimate things you can attack. Thorin, can you go put the lasagna in the oven?  It sounds like the oven just finished preheating.” Dis turned to her brother. 

“Yeah,” Thorin nodded for Bilbo to follow. Bilbo took a seat at the bar in the kitchen as Thorin found the pan of lasagna. “Do you want anything to drink?” Thorin thought to offer first. 

“Water would be good,” Bilbo accepted and Thorin got a glass down and filled it with water before handing it to Bilbo. “Thanks,” Bilbo smiled as he was handed the glass. Thorin nodded before turning to pick up the pan filled with cheese, meat, noodles and tomato sauce.

Bilbo watched Thorin pull the large oven open and lean over to stick the pan of lasagna in as Dis appeared in the kitchen. 

“Enjoying the view, Bilbo?” Dis asked, as Thorin stood straight again. Bilbo choked a bit on his water before blushing profusely. He’d never admit it, but he _had_ been admiring how nice Thorin’s bum looked as he leaned over to put the pan into the oven. 

“Dis!” Thorin’s face quickly turned a bright shade of red. 

“I’m only joking.” Dis assured them as she came around to where Bilbo was sitting. “Kili’s shooting at the back door now and Fili’s attacking some pillows and Frodo’s testing out his new costume.” Dis reported. Bilbo leaned back in his chair to see if he could catch a glimpse of his nephew.  He spotted Kili diligently aiming his sucker cup arrows at the glass door and Fili jumping off the couch with his sword and attacking a pile of pillows. Finally he saw Frodo stand up with the hood of the costume over his head and he was testing out the wings that were attached to the arms. Bilbo smiled, happy that Frodo had found a costume he was excited about. 

He turned back to the conversation that Thorin and Dis were already in the middle of and Bilbo figured it was about work. He politely sipped at his water as he listened to the two talk about Thorin complaining about a co-worker that was giving Dis too much attention, according to him.

"Was the lunch he took you out to the other day for work or for pleasure?" Thorin interrogated.  

"Why do you have to be so nosy?  It was for work, if you must know." Dis scoffed.  

Bilbo felt like it really wasn't his business and he shouldn't be hearing the conversation but there wasn't anywhere he could escape to. It wasn’t long before he heard loud pounding noises and all three of them perked up. Frodo came dashing through the room with Fili and Kili hot on his trail, Fili brandishing his sword and Kili trying to shoot his arrows. 

“ _Die, dragon_!” Kili cried as Frodo tripped and fell into the carpet. Before Bilbo could get up to see if Frodo was okay, Dis jumped up.

 _“Boys!”_ Dis roared loud enough to scare even Bilbo. Fili and Kili looked petrified that Frodo had seriously hurt himself and that they were in huge trouble. The young boy quickly jumped up with a smile on his face. Bilbo breathed a sigh of relief. “What did I say about using those weapons on people?” Dis snapped.

“Not to…but Frodo said it was okay!” Fili protested. 

“It doesn’t matter, Frodo can still get hurt whether or not he said it was all right or not!” Dis explained, frustrated.

“Sorry,” Kili muttered

“Frodo, you know what Miss Dis said about using toys against other people.” Bilbo gave a sharp look to his nephew, knowing Fili and Kili were not all to blame. “You shouldn’t have egged them on.”

Dis marched over to the boys.  “Hand them over.”

 _“But Mom!”_ Fili cried.

“We said we were sorry!” Kili protested. 

“No buts, I already told you not two and you didn’t listen. You don't get a second chance. You’ll get them back on Halloween night.” Dis motioned again for the boys to hand over their weapons. “If you don’t hand them over _now_ you won’t get them at all on Halloween and you’ll both have to go to your rooms the rest of the night.” They grumbled, handing them over.  “Kili, why don’t you go show Frodo your new game?” Dis suggested. “That way no one gets hurt,” she added under her breath.

The three of them perked up and agreed hurrying off to Kili’s room. Dis took the toys and went to go put them away. 

In another hour the lasagna was about ready and Thorin and Bilbo helped set the table. Fili came down by himself in a sour mood. 

“All right, what’s wrong?” Dis spotted her son first. 

“Kili and Frodo are ignoring me,” Fili whined. 

“Well, it’s almost time for dinner. Why don’t you go tell them to get to a stopping point and wash up?” Dis suggested. Fili heaved a sigh and agreed to get the others. 

“Would you like a glass of wine with dinner?” Thorin offered Bilbo putting the bottle of wine Dis had picked out to go with dinner down on the table. 

“Oh, sure,” Bilbo agreed as Thorin went to pull out a few wine glasses to place at the table.  He poured wine into his sister’s glass and Bilbo’s glass and poured a tiny bit into his own.  Thorin swished the wine in the glass before raising it to his nose. Bilbo laughed at Thorin’s attempt to appear like a professional wine connoisseur.

“It’s cheap wine, Thorin.” Dis rolled her eyes at her brother.  

“Why not the good stuff?  Certainly we can afford better.” Thorin raised his eyebrows; acting like he was embarrassed they didn’t have the finest wine to serve Bilbo. 

“Because I can buy about ten bottles of the cheap stuff for the price of one bottle of the fancy stuff,” Dis replied simply. “You know I usually get something more expensive for the holidays. Besides, the cheap stuff is still good.”

“It is,” Bilbo attested taking a sip from his own glass. 

Soon the three boys came down stairs and took their seats around the table where the wine glasses weren’t. 

“Thorin, bring the lasagna over here,” Dis called as she set down the salad along with the trivet for the hot pan to rest on. 

“Ouch,” Thorin hissed as his finger accidentally touched the hot pan. 

“Be careful!” Bilbo anxiously looked towards the kitchen. Thorin brought the pan over and set it down as Dis began to cut it up. She helped serve up the plates of the young boys so they didn’t burn themselves, as Thorin nursed his own burnt finger. Bilbo reached over to examine Thorin’s burnt finger. 

“You need to be more careful,” Bilbo chastised after examining the burn, as Dis had finished serving the boys. Bilbo stood and took the serving spoon from Dis and carefully served the pasta onto his own plate as well as Thorin’s plate. 

“Thank you, dear,” Thorin smiled, placing his hand on the small of Bilbo’s back. 

“Mm,” Bilbo hummed in response. “Do you need me to get you your salad as well?”

“If you’d please,” Thorin accepted. “I’m completely useless tonight with this _terrible_ burn injury.” Bilbo rolled his eyes. 

Soon dinner was all served up and the meal was underway. The boys ate a little but mostly pushed their food around on their plate. 

“Frodo, sit still and eat. I’m not making you another dinner tonight,” Bilbo told his nephew and Frodo only groaned in response. “It’s delicious, Dis.” Bilbo assured Thorin’s sister. 

“It’s all right, my boys never eat the stuff I cook either.” Dis looked disapprovingly at her own sons who didn’t looked too pleased with the plate in front of them. 

“Can we please get our toys back?” Kili begged, ignoring his dinner. 

“Maybe I’d think about it if you ate your dinner.” Dis raised her eyebrows. 

“I’m not hungry,” Kili muttered. 

“Well, it looks like you’ll be waiting until Halloween to get your toys back, that’s too bad,” Dis sighed with a shrug. Kili continued pouting. 

They soon finished up dinner and Thorin offered to refill Bilbo’s empty wine glass. 

“Just a bit more,” Bilbo shrugged as Thorin began to pour. “That’s good, that’s good!” Bilbo tried to stop Thorin. “Are you trying to get me drunk?” Bilbo giggled as he lifted the glass to his lips. 

“Course not,” Thorin smiled. Fili and Kili looked anxious to leave the table, but Frodo looked exhausted. 

“We should probably think about heading home soon.” Bilbo took another sip of his wine, catching sight of Frodo’s exhausted expression.

“Mm, right. Are you tired, Frodo?” Thorin asked across the table. Frodo only rubbed his eyes and nodded. 

“Yeah, I think it’s about time to go home,” Bilbo nodded as Thorin stood up and took the empty plates off the table. Fili and Kili took the opportunity to slip away from the table, probably to try to find their toys. Dis was too busy finishing her story to notice. Bilbo sat and listened to Dis talk about when Fili was about Frodo’s age and had tried to set up a terrarium for the bugs he found outside. Dis explained it hadn’t been very secure though, because the bugs had eventually found a way out. 

“We were on our hands and knees for weeks looking for these bugs,” Dis laughed wiping her eyes and drinking her own wine. 

“That was not fun,” Thorin recalled. “Luckily, I didn’t have to worry about spiders in my bed because I don’t have to sleep here,” Thorin smiled. 

Soon Bilbo had finished his glass of wine as Thorin found Frodo’s costume that had been discarded in Kili’s room. Dis packed a container with some leftovers for Bilbo to take home. As they got ready to go Fili and Kili came back to the living area to say goodbye. 

“All right, I think we’re ready,” Bilbo said as he pulled Frodo’s jacket over his young nephew’s shoulders. 

“Okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.” Thorin gave his sister a hug. 

“Uncle Thorin can you pick us up tomorrow so we can go to the park?” Fili asked. 

“I don’t know about that, but we’ll find time to go to the park sometime this week, all right?” Thorin promised. Fili and Kili both hugged their uncle goodbye and said their goodbyes to Frodo and Bilbo. 

After getting Frodo into his car seat, Bilbo quietly slipped into Thorin’s passenger seat. The sun had already set and the ride home was mostly quiet except the radio that was faintly playing in the car. They reached the Baggins’ home soon and Bilbo realized Frodo was fast asleep. Bilbo sighed not wanting to wake him up and try to get him into bed.

“I’ll get him,” Thorin softly told him as if he'd read Bilbo's thoughts. Bilbo smiled as he got out and Thorin met him around the side of the car. Carefully unbuckling Frodo, Thorin picked the young boy up in his arms. Bilbo led Thorin to the house and unlocked the front door and led him further into the dark house. Bilbo only turned on a few dim lights so they wouldn’t wake Frodo up. 

“Where…?” Thorin whispered. Bilbo led Thorin up to Frodo’s room and he turned on a small lamp in the bedroom so they could see well enough to get in. 

“Careful…I’m sorry I keep telling him to keep his room cleaned up…” Bilbo hissed as Thorin carefully placed Frodo down on his bed. He pulled off Frodo’s small shoes before tucking Bilbo’s young nephew into bed while Bilbo watched the ridiculously sweet scene unfold. Thorin stood up and quietly followed Bilbo out into the hall.

“You’re really good with him.” Bilbo smiled shyly, stopping just outside Frodo’s room. 

“I’ve had years of practice with my nephews.” Thorin whispered a reply. “But it's been a while time since I was able to do that for Fili or Kili.” Thorin returned Bilbo’s smile, coolly. 

“Thank you.” Bilbo whispered after a moment’s hesitation.  “For all you’ve done. For both of us.” Thorin’s large soft hands came up to cradle Bilbo’s face as he pulled him in for a gentle kiss. 

“You’re most welcome,” Thorin purred with his baritone voice as his hands fell to Bilbo’s waist and pulled him closer. They held each other’s gaze for a moment. Bilbo felt content and safe standing in the quiet dark hallway with Thorin’s hands on either side of him. He felt like he could face any challenge, conquer any difficulty and that he would always be okay as long as Thorin was there at his side. He hadn’t felt this secure since his parents were still alive. There were no words Bilbo could find to convey the feeling to Thorin as they both stood perfectly still in the dark hallway. 

The only thing that managed to slip out was a quiet, “I love you.”

He had never admitted it out loud before and seemed taken surprise by his own profession. Bilbo quickly looked away, his face burning hot in their dim surroundings.  He knew he shouldn’t feel embarrassed, though. He _was_ in love with Thorin, so much so he could hardly stand it and he wanted to explode. He wanted to yell it from the rooftops that he was in love. Thorin’s hands immediately came up again to raise Bilbo’s gaze to his own. As Bilbo locked eyes with Thorin again he looked incredibly overjoyed before placing a kiss on his forehead.

“And I love you, Bilbo Baggins,” Thorin smiled as Bilbo clutched at his shirt, balling the fabric at Thorin’s side in his hands.

“W-would you like to stay for a cup of coffee?” Bilbo awkwardly asked after a few quiet moments unsure of what to say. Thorin’s hands found Bilbo’s in the dark, replacing the fabric of his shirt with his own hands. 

“I should really head home,” Thorin declined politely. “I’ve got meetings at seven tomorrow morning.”

“Sheesh, that’s early,” Bilbo sympathized as the intimate atmosphere dissipated. “How do you even function at that time of the morning?”

“I’m more of a morning person,” Thorin shrugged simply.

“Mm, all right.” Bilbo raised his eyebrows as he mentally logged that in his memory with all the other little facts he’d learned about Thorin over the past year. Bilbo walked him back to the front door where Thorin’s hand hovered over the handle.

“When can I see you next?” Thorin asked quietly. Bilbo gave a shrug. 

“I should be the one asking you that,” Bilbo smiled. “You know, with your busy schedule and everything…I’ll be here…just let me know.”

“All right. Look for my call.” Thorin leaned down to give Bilbo a goodnight kiss. Their lips lingered for a moment longer than usual before Thorin opened the door to the chilly October night. 

“Did you not bring your coat at all?” Bilbo instantly switched to mother-hen mode the moment the chilly air hit his face.   

“I’m fine,” Thorin quickly replied hurrying to his car. Bilbo rolled his eyes at Thorin’s carelessness before calling out a goodbye. Thorin returned the farewell before jumping into his car. Bilbo shut the door and watched out the window as the car started up, the headlights flash on and the car pull away from the house. Bilbo put his arms around himself subconsciously to mock Thorin’s embrace. 

Bilbo couldn’t believe it. He was stupidly, helplessly in love. 

**x**

The month continued on and Bilbo eventually had to tell Lobelia he wouldn’t be coming to her party. He tried to break it to her nicely, even taking her out to lunch to tell her. Of course she was bound to be upset regardless, he’d gone to her party almost every year since she started doing it after marrying his cousin, Otho. He explained it to her best he could and hoped she would come to understand. Bilbo felt terrible about it, but there’d be so many other people at the party she would surely forget half way through the night. Besides, he’d much rather be with Thorin than at that crowded party anyway.

However, Frodo had bragged to his cousins that he was getting to go trick or treating while they were stuck at Aunt Lobelia’s party. The week before Halloween, both Esmeralda and Tina had called Bilbo to see if Merry and Pippin could join Frodo trick or treating while they and their significant others went to the party.  Bilbo hesitantly agreed and worked out an arrangement with both of them. Then, somehow Bilbo had let it slip to his neighbor they were taking a group of kids to a another neighborhood to trick or treat and Bilbo ended up offering for the Gamgees to join them since their kids hardly got anything when they tried to trick or treat in their neighborhood. 

Bilbo felt terrible about inviting all these extra kids along and wasn’t sure if it was really his place to invite them to come with them. After all it had been Thorin who’d invited Bilbo and Frodo and _only_ Bilbo and Frodo. Eventually, Bilbo hesitantly called Thorin several days before Halloween. 

Thorin didn’t pick up but Bilbo left a quick message.

“Hey, it’s me. When you get a chance call me back I want to talk to you about Halloween,” Bilbo quickly rattled off and before ending the message. A couple hours later just as Bilbo had started cooking dinner, his phone went off. He answered it and put it on speaker next to the stovetop. 

“Hello,” Bilbo answered as he finished stirring the pan filled with potatoes.

“Hey, I got your message…where are you? It sounds like there’s something hissing…” Thorin sounded confused. 

“Sorry, you caught me just as I was making dinner,” Bilbo explained trying to move the phone away from the noise. 

“Mmm, well it _sounds_ good,” Thorin teased. “What did you call me about earlier?” Bilbo quickly put a lid on the pan and took the phone off of speaker and raised it to his ear. 

“Er, yeah. About that…” Bilbo searched for the right words. 

“Is something wrong? You can’t make it anymore?” Thorin sounded worried. 

“No, no!  We can still make it I just seemed to accidentally invite along some of Frodo’s cousins and the neighbors entire family along.” Bilbo cringed after explaining. “It was completely rude of me to invite other people—”

“Bilbo!” Thorin chuckled.  “Bilbo, it’s fine.”   

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…it just…happened,” Bilbo sighed. 

“Don’t worry about it! I’m sure Fili and Kili will love it, they’ll feel like they’re leaders of their own personal army of kids. They'll have a blast,” Thorin assured Bilbo. Bilbo felt relieved Thorin wasn’t upset. 

“I mean I suppose it’s just Merry and Pippin, Frodo’s cousins, coming with us. I think the Gamgees will manage their own brood.” Bilbo shrugged realizing it wasn’t so bad. “I told Tina and Esmeralda that they’ll need to pick Merry and Pip up at your sister’s once we’re done, but we should be okay.”

“Yeah, yeah…so speaking of Halloween…” Thorin started. “Fili and Kili wanted me to ask you if it was all right if Frodo spends the night on Halloween…seeing as it’s a weekend and they don’t have school the next day.” Thorin hesitantly asked Bilbo. 

“Well…” Bilbo started.  “Will you be staying and if so, does this offer apply to me as well?” Bilbo asked, half teasing, half serious. Bilbo could hear Thorin chuckle on the other end. 

“You know funny story about that…Fili and Kili propositioned _me_ before going to their mother. They made their points about not having school the next day and that it’ll be easier if Frodo just stayed the night and then Kili made sure I knew that I could invite you to stay the night as well.” Thorin explained. “So yes, by invitation of Kili, you are welcome to stay as well. If you’d like to, of course.”

“Your nephews have the system figured out, don’t they?” Bilbo laughed. 

“They certainly do,” Thorin agreed. 

“So has Dis heard this and does she also extend this invitation?” Bilbo asked.

“Oh yes, the boys finally talked to her about it after begging me to convince her for days,” Thorin clarified. “They thought if they could get me on board I would beg _for_ them…and well, I may have offered some input while she thought it over.”

“Mhm, of course.” Bilbo smiled to himself. “I’ll ask Frodo to make sure he wants to stay the night, but I accept on my behalf. I think it’d be nice to finally stay the night with you.” Bilbo smiled coyly. 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too.” Thoin sounded relieved to admit it.

“I’ll talk to Frodo tonight and give you a call back,” Bilbo told him as he turned back to the dinner he’d almost forgotten he was making. 

“Okay, I’ll talk to you later, then.  Don’t want you to burn dinner!” Thorin finished up. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.” Bilbo grinned as Thorin hung up. Bilbo finished making dinner and called Frodo to the kitchen as Bilbo set the table. Once Frodo was downstairs and dinner served, Bilbo brought up Thorin’s proposition about Halloween. 

“Thorin called to let me know that Fili and Kili wanted you to stay the night on Halloween," Bilbo told his nephew.  “Is that something you’d want to do?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Frodo excitedly bounced in his chair.  “This is going to be the best Halloween ever!  Are you staying the night too?” Frodo asked. 

“Thorin said it’d be all right if I stayed too.” Bilbo felt a faint blush crawl up his face.

“Yeah! It’ll be like a giant sleepover!” Frodo looked ecstatic.

“Besides I’ve got to keep an eye on you, since you’re such a little troublemaker, you know,” Bilbo smirked at his young nephew. 

“ _Uncle Bilbo!_ ” Frodo giggled. “Wait, are Merry and Pip staying too?”

“No, no, I don’t think Fili and Kili’s mother would want _that_ many kids staying the night.” Bilbo felt bad as Frodo looked let down. “But you’ll still have all night trick or treating with them, all right?” Bilbo attempted to cheer him up. Frodo agreed with a nod and turned back to his plate of food. 

**x**

Before Bilbo knew it, it was the thirty-first. 

Bilbo had made sure to give his cousins and his neighbors the address to Thorin’s sister's home and told them would be best to arrive. He anxiously packed his own overnight bag, being sure to pack his best pajamas. Bilbo laughed at himself feeling as if he was being silly, but he wanted to look his best if he was going to be staying the night with Thorin.

A cold front had moved in just in time for Halloween. During the day it drizzled and the weather was dreary. Temperatures promised to reach freezing temperatures after the sunset. Bilbo set upon finding as many layers as he could for both himself and Frodo. Soon he had to stop after finding most everything he could (he was still searching for wool socks for himself) to go pick up Frodo.  When Bilbo arrived he parked a block away before he hit the bad school traffic and walked to go pick Frodo up. He found Frodo easily as he was wearing his costume for the Halloween party they’d had at school. His nephew was standing with Kili who was in his Robin Hood costume. 

“Hi, Kili,” Bilbo smiled as he approached the two. Kili excitedly waved at Bilbo. Frodo turned and smiled at his uncle. 

“Can we go over to Kili’s right now?” Frodo begged his uncle. 

“Hold on! You’re going to have all night with him!” Bilbo chuckled. “Is your mother or your uncle coming to pick you up today?” Bilbo asked Kili. 

“Uncle Thorin is! He and mom are _both_ taking off early from work!” Kili exclaimed. “That’s why you should come over as soon as possible!”

“I’ll have to have confirmation before I can do that, I think. Besides, Frodo still has to go home and pack up his things.” Bilbo looked to his nephew. 

“It won’t take me _that_ long!” Frodo promised. 

“My uncle should be here soon, you can ask him then!” Kili anxiously looked around. Before he could spot Thorin though, he spotted Esmeralda with Merry.  She waved as she made her way over with her son in tow. 

“You’re still okay with taking Merry and Pip with you tonight?” Esmeralda asked as Merry said hello to Frodo. 

“Oh yes of course, Frodo’s so excited,” Bilbo nodded looking over to see Kili enthusiastically telling Merry something.

“Well Lobelia’s party starts at six, so we’ll be over about five forty-five?” Esmeralda asked before checking the address again.

“That should be fine,” Bilbo confirmed. “And yes, that’s the address.” He finally spotted Thorin sweeping across the schoolyard still dressed sharply in his work attire. Bilbo couldn’t help but laugh at how out of place Thorin looked among the hordes of school children in their Halloween costumes. 

“There’s Uncle!” Kili exclaimed waving his uncle over. Thorin’s face broke into a smile when he saw Bilbo standing with them. 

“Oh,” Bilbo realized he and Esmeralda and Thorin hadn’t met yet. He gave a small wave as Thorin joined them. He pecked Bilbo’s temple in greeting before turning his attention to Bilbo’s cousin. “Right, er, Esmeralda this is Thorin and Thorin this is Esmeralda.”

“It’s nice to finally put a name to a face! I’ve heard nothing but good things about you.” Esmeralda extended her hand to Thorin. 

“Oh, that’s good to hear,” Thorin blushed, shaking Esmeralda’s hand. “I’d hate to hear if Bilbo’s been complaining about me.” Thorin nudged Bilbo gently. 

“What’s there to complain about?” Bilbo smirked, lightly pushed back. Esmeralda smiled at the two before they began chatting about their plans that night.  

“Well, we should probably go so we can get ready for tonight, huh, Merry?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’ll see you guys tonight!” Merry waved goodbye to Frodo and Kili. 

“It was nice to meet you, Thorin, and I’m sure we’ll see you again tonight,” Esmeralda bid the two goodbye before turning away. 

“Kili informed me you’ve taken off work early so we can come over whenever we want.” Bilbo turned to Thorin. 

“Oh yes, essentially,” Thorin shrugged.  “Dis also wanted me to tell you that she’s got dinner for us before we head out.” 

“She doesn’t need to do that!” Bilbo smiled. “I feel like I need to have her over to cook for her at some point!”

“Oh she enjoys it…it’s her time to unwind. She honestly doesn’t mind,” Thorin explained.  “I think. I mean she offered…” Thorin muttered.

“All right, all right, that’s fine. I suppose we’ll see you in a little bit then?” Bilbo shrugged. 

“See you,” Thorin gave Bilbo another quick peck on his cheek before turning to Kili.

After getting home Frodo quickly packed the last of his things and had them gathered by the front door in the matter of a half an hour. He spent the next hour begging Bilbo to hurry with packing. 

“You are going to have _all_ night, Frodo Baggins! I’m almost finished,” Bilbo exasperatedly explained to his impatient nephew. “Did you find your gloves and hat?”

“No…” Frodo sighed.  “I’ve got my costume to keep me warm!”

“You need more than your costume it’s going to be freezing,” Bilbo groaned.  “They should be in the hall closet down by the front door.”

Soon Bilbo had almost everything ready to go. He still hadn’t found his wool socks, but he decided to just layer two pairs of socks and they’d be fine. 

“All right,” Bilbo made a mental inventory of everything. Frodo was already grabbing his things and heading out the door. Bilbo decided they had everything that was important and helped Frodo carry their load out to the car and soon they were on their way. When they pulled in Fili and Kili ran out into the driveway and bounced until they were both out of the car. The two boys had already gotten their toy weapons back and were waving them around excitedly. Bilbo carried his and Frodo’s things as Fili and Kili led them inside. Thorin was there to greet them and take the bags from Bilbo’s hands. 

“Well, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you, Bilbo! Do come in!” Thorin teased. Frodo excitedly ran off with Fili and Kili. “I’ll take your bags back to _our_ room,” Thorin told Bilbo being sure to emphasize the word ‘our’. Bilbo rolled his eyes and followed Thorin further into the house. 

“Would you like any help preparing dinner?” Bilbo greeted Dis, spotting her leaning over the stove. 

“Oh, Bilbo! Hello,” Dis greeted, looking up. “No, no, I’m fine.”

Soon Merry and Pippin were dropped off and Bilbo introduced his cousins to Thorin and Dis.

“Pleasure to meet you again, Thorin.” Esmeralda smiled sweetly once the introductions were finished. Frodo excitedly came to greet Merry and Pippin. He squeaked in excitement seeing his cousins dressed in their costumes, Merry as a knight and Pippin as a prince. Merry brandished his own plastic sword at Frodo as they ran off to go find Fili and Kili to introduce them to his cousins.

Their parents didn’t stay very long as they were hurrying along to Lobelia’s party and as soon as they were being introduced they were saying goodbye. Once they’d left, dinner was almost finished and Dis sent Thorin to go round up the kids.

Dinner was a quick affair with all the kids being anxious to go out. As dinner finished up, Dis had disappeared and the kids begun excitedly preparing to go out. Thorin was in the middle of breaking up Merry and Fili’s sword fight as Bilbo stood up.

“I'm going to go get my extra pair of socks.” Bilbo realized they were still packed in his bag.  “Where…?”

“I put your bag in the guest room just down that hall and to the right.” Thorin pointed. “If you go in there can you grab my shoes? They should be right there inside the door.” Thorin asked.  Bilbo nodded following Thorin’s instructions to find the room. Finding the room easily enough he felt for the light switch before turning it on. Bilbo caught sight of a bloody figure and leapt with fright letting out a loud yelp and turned off the light again. Thorin ran to see what had happened as laughter came from the dark bedroom. 

“What happened?” Thorin asked as Bilbo caught his breath. Dis jumped from the doorway laughing and Bilbo jumped a little again as Dis reappeared. Thorin soon put together what had happened, as Dis was decked out in fake blood and ‘rotting flesh’. “ _Dis!_ ” Thorin scolded, but couldn’t help but smile.  She couldn’t stop laughing. 

“Were you in on this?” Bilbo slapped Thorin’s arm. 

“No! I swear I wasn’t!” Thorin quickly defended himself. 

“It was—It was supposed to be for Thorin!” Dis cackled. “I thought he’d be coming in to get his shoes! I swear Bilbo, I didn’t know it was you!”

“I should have warned you she tries to do this to me every year.” Thorin placed a reassuring hand on Bilbo’s shoulder, as Bilbo still looked pale and shaken from being so startled. 

“You should have heard him _scream!”_ Dis continued laughing.

“I did.” Thorin couldn’t help but smile. 

“Shut up! _”_ Bilbo rolled his eyes before slapping Thorin’s arm again as he started to laugh again. “Can I get to my socks now, please?” Bilbo looked back to Dis, exasperated with their shenanigans. 

“Yes, yes!” Dis grinned. “I’m sorry, Bilbo! I really am!” Bilbo only rolled his eyes and continued his way back into the room with the lights on now. He dug through his bag finding the extra pair of socks and stood up as Dis was still snickering.

The boys came running downstairs after hearing Bilbo’s scream. 

“Did Mom finally get Uncle Thorin?  Was that _Uncle’s_ girly scream?!” Fili looked excited trying to find his mother and uncle.   

“No, I’m sorry to disappoint you, the girly scream was me,” Bilbo told Fili, pushing past Thorin and Dis who were still snickering. 

“ _You?_  Mom, you got _Mister Bilbo_?” Fili grinned, looking disbelievingly at his mother.

“I didn’t mean too!” Dis defended herself as she continued to laugh.

“I should have known when she disappeared halfway through dinner,” Thorin continued to try to apologize to Bilbo.

“It’s not _your_ fault,” Bilbo rolled his eyes again. “Come on are we almost ready to leave?” He wanted to move on from the subject as soon as possible, still feeling a little shaken. 

The Gamgees arrived soon and they welcomed the family inside as the kids finished getting their gloves and hats on.  

Bilbo introduced his neighbors Hamfast and Bell to Thorin and Dis as the first trick or treaters began coming to the door.  The group of kids still getting ready to go started getting even more anxious to get out and start their own evening of trick or treating. Once they were all bundled and ready to go, they headed out. 

The cold bitter air hit Bilbo’s face as they started down the sidewalk following the now massive group of kids.  With the Gamgee’s their group now reached a total of eleven kids.

“Careful! It’s icy out tonight!” Thorin called as the excited kids hurried up the first driveway, led by Fili and Kili.

Bilbo linked his arm around Thorin’s as they stopped to watch the kids ring the doorbell and all cry ‘Trick or Treat!’ at the same time.  The neighbor looked overwhelmed at the huge group of kids before looking up and spotting Thorin with a wave before they shut the door. They continued on passing a few houses with no lights or decorations on and Fili and Kili decided which direction to head when they reached the end of the street. 

Bilbo could see Fili’s plastic sword raised at the head of the group marching on. They made small talk with the other couple, Bell thanking Bilbo and Thorin profusely for letting them tag along. 

“Oh, Frodo was excited to hear you’d be coming with us.” Bilbo glanced at the large group seeing Frodo’s dragon costume excitedly talking to one of the Gamgee’s young sons, Sam, who was dressed as a farmer in a straw hat and overalls. 

“The more the merrier,” Thorin added. “I haven’t seen Fili or Kili _this_ excited Halloween in a long time.”

Bilbo felt like the night dragged on and it continually got colder and colder. He continually tried to place Thorin between him and the wind, pressing his body close to Thorin’s. 

“What are you doing?” Thorin chuckled, looking confused as Bilbo buried his face between Thorin’s arm and back. 

“I’m freezing!  I can’t feel my toes any more…my extra pair of socks didn’t help me at all!” Bilbo cried.  Thorin lifted his arm and wrapped it firmly around Bilbo, pulling him in for a hug.

“Any better?” Thorin asked.

“No.” Bilbo muttered into Thorin’s chest. “My feet are still freezing.”

“Well, there’s not much I can do about that right now, I’m sorry,” Thorin apologized.

"I wasn't expecting you to," Bilbo replied shortly.  "Unless you can magically improve the weather."

"No, I'm not quite that good." 

The kids began to slow down as the cold finally set in, but they were determined to march on and get as much candy as possible. 

As their plastic buckets were getting fuller they thought about heading back. On one of the houses back there was a slick patch of ice on a piece of the sidewalk. They’d been careful to avoid ice all night but this patch was harder to spot. Frodo was the one who didn’t see it and fell forward, slipping and spilling half of his candy. Bilbo jumped forward feeling as if it was always Frodo to fall and hurt himself. He was lucky none of these spills had been very harmful. Frodo started to cry as the group stopped to figure out what happened. They all set out trying to collect Frodo’s scattered candy as Bilbo helped Frodo up and looked him over. 

“Are you okay?” Bilbo brushed Frodo off. Frodo wiped his eyes trying to stop crying. “Where does it hurt?” His nephew pointed at his knees and then his palms, which looked a little scratched but overall there wasn’t much damage.

“Do you want me to kiss it to feel better?” Bilbo asked. Frodo shook his head.

“I know kisses don’t really make it feel better, Uncle Bilbo,” Frodo pouted now that his crying had stopped. 

“I think you underestimate the power of my kisses,” Bilbo replied in an incredulous voice. He heard Thorin behind him chuckling and Bilbo fought the urge to roll his eyes.

“I’m a big boy, Uncle! I don’t need kisses.” Frodo rubbed his eyes, trying to hide all evidence he’d been crying. “I’m fine. Let’s go!”

“Are you _sure?”_ Bilbo asked.

“Yes!” Frodo puffed up his chest. Fili still looked concerned and offered to carry Frodo on his back. 

“I do it with Kili all the time, you’d be no problem!” Fili explained. 

“No, no, no,” Thorin told his nephew.  “What if you slipped on a patch of ice, too?  It would hurt a lot more for both of you,” he dissuaded his nephew. 

“I can walk, Fili. I promise,” Frodo assured Fili as Frodo’s candy was being put back into his plastic pail. 

They decided to head home anyway as it was beginning to snow a bit. They arrived home and rang their own doorbell and waited for Dis to arrive at the front door. She answered still decked out in her zombie makeup and laughed to see their group back on her front porch. She distributed the very last of the left over candy and explained that it had been slowing down the past half an hour or so anyway. The mob of kids marched inside and began shedding their costumes. 

The Gamgees didn’t stay long after that as the kids wanted to dump out their candy and count it.  Bell didn’t want them doing it there because it would take them ages to get it all cleaned up again. They said their goodbyes and the Gamgees thanked them all again as a few of the kids chimed in that it was the best Halloween ever. Once they had left, Dis went to wash off her zombie makeup. Fili and Kili started dumping out their candy in the living room after pulling off the parts of their costume that would hinder their process. Frodo, Merry and Pippin were quick to follow suit.

Soon Dis returned looking less undead and began making hot cocoa for the kids and offered Thorin and Bilbo a coffee or tea as they attempted to warm up.  They both gratefully accepted and after they were handed their mugs they started towards the couch to watch the candy chaos unfold. After sitting down Bilbo folded his freezing feet underneath him. Thorin tugged on Bilbo's legs before finally being able to pull the cold feet into his lap. Bilbo readjusted with his back against the couch arm and a pillow. Thorin lightly massaged the feet in his lap while trying to warm them up.

“Better now?” Thorin teased. 

“Much better,” Bilbo smiled into his mug of tea.

The living room floor was now a sea of candy. They all had the piles of candy clearly divided so there was no confusion between piles before Dis called them for hot cocoa. 

“That’s a lot of sugar,” Dis laughed taking a seat beside her brother. 

“As if Fili and Kili need any more energy than they already have,” Thorin commiserated. The impatient kids abandoned the hot cocoa only ten minutes later to return to their candy and start trading. 

“Who wants these gummies?” Fili called beginning his trade pile. 

“I do!” Frodo called pulling from his own pile of candy to trade.

“No, Pip. You can’t have those,” Merry reminded his younger cousin of his peanut allergy as Pippin reached to trade with Kili for a chocolate candy with nuts. “Here,” Merry traded one of his plain chocolate candies with Pippin and took the other tiny bar from Kili. Once they’d finished their trading they started eating out of their piles of candy. 

“Don’t make yourselves sick!” Dis called. “I think you should all pick four or five pieces of candy and save the rest for later.” Dis tried to avoid the sugar rush that was sure to come. 

“Mom!” Fili and Kili groaned. 

“I think that’s a good rule to stick to.” Bilbo nodded towards his nephew who looked about ready to eat all the candy in his pile. “Merry and Pip, you too.  Your mothers won’t appreciate it if we give you back to your families hyped on candy.”

“Aww,” Merry and Pippin both groaned. 

“We’re supposed to be hyped! This is the one night we’re allowed to be!” Merry protested.

“I’ll let your mothers be the judge of that,” Bilbo chuckled. 

They returned most of their candy to their buckets before digging into the few pieces they had picked and the floor was soon littered with candy wrappers.  Dis told Bilbo and Thorin some of the ridiculous costumes she saw on some teenagers that had been there and Bilbo returned some of the stories about the extravagant decorations they saw walking around. 

Soon Bilbo’s cousins came to pick up Merry and Pippin and Dis invited them inside. 

“How was the party?” Bilbo greeted his family.  “What drama did I miss?”

“Oh, the usual. But this year Lobelia had set up a full haunted house in the back…that woman goes all out…and I swear she outdoes herself every year!” Saradoc, Esmeralda’s husband, chuckled. 

“How about your night? How was trick or treating?” Esmeralda asked. 

“Freezing!” Bilbo laughed. “But the kids had fun and that’s what’s important. I’m already apologizing in advance for all the sugar they got tonight.”

“Oh, you know they would have gotten the same amount at Lobelia’s party, probably all at once…so this was probably better.” Paladin, Tina’s husband, shrugged off Bilbo’s concern. Tina went on to explain that their three other daughters went to another Halloween party at a family friend’s house as Merry and Pippin collected their things. 

“Mister and Missus Merry and Pippin’s parents!” Kili ran into the entryway. “Can Merry and Pippin stay the night with Frodo and us? Please, please, please?” Kili begged. 

“Kili!” Bilbo exclaimed. “Did you even ask your mother?”

“No…Mom, can they?” Kili pleaded. 

“I’m sorry, love.” Esmeralda stepped in and apologized to the young boy. “I’m sure your mother is exhausted and we should be getting home.”

“Mom, _please_?” Merry appeared at Kili’s side. “I’ll be good! I’ll do all my chores without complaining!”

“You should do that anyway.” Esmeralda raised her eyebrows at her son. “Maybe we’ll find another time, all right?” she promised. “Go get your candy and let’s get home.”

“Bring Pip with you!” Tina reminded them, as they turned away, disappointed. 

Soon they were all gathered up and ready to go. Merry and Pippin’s parents thanked them for letting the two boys go along with them trick or treating. 

“We would have never heard the end of it,” Tina explained.  “So thank you.”

“We were happy to do so,” Thorin nodded. 

“Bilbo, you’ve got to start bringing him to family events, all right?” Esmeralda winked at Bilbo. “Don’t keep hiding him from us!” Bilbo blushed and nodded as Merry and Pippin returned with their candy and half of their costumes in their arms. Their parents chuckled and commented that it looked like they had a very good Halloween before they said their final goodbyes and the families left. Bilbo exhaled a sigh as he watched his cousins leave. 

“So, did you have a good Halloween?” Thorin placed a hand on Bilbo’s back as they turned away from the front entryway. 

“Of course.” Bilbo smiled. When they returned to the living room they helped Dis clean up the wrappers spread out on the floor and the three of them sat down to watch the suspenseful movie Dis had found to watch on TV.

“Where’d the boys go?” Bilbo looked around feeling as if it were too quiet. 

“I think Fili said they were going to put a movie on downstairs.” Dis looked towards the stairs. “I told them nothing too scary.”

“Good,” Bilbo chuckled. They had only been watching the cheesy suspense movie for an hour before Thorin began dozing off. Bilbo had to keep nudging him to wake him up when he began snoring and Thorin finally decided to get up. 

“I think I’m going to bed.” Thorin rubbed his eyes with a yawn. He stood up taking both his and Bilbo’s empty mugs. 

“It’s hardly ten!” Bilbo laughed. “I can’t believe you’re already falling asleep.”

“I don’t think Thorin’s ever stayed up past midnight, even when we were teenagers,” Dis explained. 

“You’re going to miss out on the end of the movie! You’ll never know where the villagers disappeared to!” Bilbo protested. 

“I don’t care _that_ much,” Thorin rolled his eyes. “But if I stay out here any longer I’m going to fall asleep on the couch for the entire night. You don’t have to go to bed just because I am.”

“Hmph, no, no,” Bilbo sighed. “At least I’ve seen the movie before. Sorry Dis,” Bilbo apologized.

“It’s fine, I should probably head to bed, too,” Dis sighed getting up.

“I think I want to check on Frodo first though, tell them we’re going to bed,” Bilbo stood up. Thorin nodded and led Bilbo downstairs to the basement.

A movie was playing on the downstairs TV, but it was completely still and quiet. Bilbo crept around to the couch to find the three boys fast asleep against each other. Frodo was curled up against Kili and Kili’s head had dropped onto Fili’s shoulder. He grinned at the sweet scene before them as Thorin found a blanket to place over them. 

“They’ll probably wake up in the middle of the night disappointed when they realize they crashed so early,” Thorin chuckled quietly.

“I knew Frodo would be out pretty early, even with the sugar,” Bilbo smiled. “I don’t know if that’s very comfortable though.”

“I’ll leave the spare blankets out in case they wake up and decide they want to sleep on something other than each other,” Thorin whispered, placing a few extra quilts out on the arm of the couch.  “All right,” he turned back to Bilbo. “Can we go to bed now?”

“I was never holding you back from going to bed,” Bilbo chuckled as Thorin grabbed his hand to lead him back upstairs. Dis was finishing washing up the mugs that had been used for cocoa, coffee and tea. 

“Goodnight, Dis,” Thorin grumbled heading towards his guest room. 

“Thank you for having us over again,” Bilbo called before following Thorin into the guest bedroom. 

Thorin made his way to the bathroom to get ready for bed as Bilbo pulled out his overnight bag. He spotted a picture frame on the bedside table and picked it up. He recognized Fili and Kili except they were much younger…Kili couldn’t be older than two and Fili looked to be about Frodo’s age.  He smiled at the picture before putting it back down and turning back to his bag. Soon Thorin vacated the bathroom with only pajama pants on and no shirt and Bilbo blushed before jumping up to occupy the bathroom. 

When Bilbo returned to the bedroom, Thorin was already curled up under the covers and Bilbo figured he was already asleep. He sat down and left the lamp on as he grabbed a book that he’d packed and found his reading glasses and opened the book to where his bookmark was. Bilbo got through a couple pages before Thorin looked up.

“Nice pajamas,” Thorin commented, sleepily, poking at Bilbo's thigh. Bilbo laughed, glad that Thorin appreciated the thought that he had actually put into his nightclothes.

“Thank you, I wore them especially for you,” Bilbo teased. 

“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Thorin grumbled, half his face in a pillow making him hard to understand. 

“I have to read a bit before I can sleep, okay? It’s apart of my routine,” Bilbo informed the grumpy, exhausted man.  Thorin moaned something completely inaudible. Bilbo finished the page he was on, and set the book and his reading glasses on the side table before turned off the lamp. Thorin hummed happily as Bilbo finally got situated under the covers and Thorin pulled him as close as possible. Bilbo could feel his face flush as Thorin’s bare arms held him close.

“Hey, can we do this every year?” Bilbo asked into the darkness.

“We can do this _every night_ of the year,” Thorin muttered in agreement, though he was certainly half-asleep.

“I meant _Halloween_ , you idiot.” Bilbo tried to contain his laughter. 

“I didn’t,” Thorin mumbled against Bilbo’s shoulder.  Bilbo rolled his eyes grinning to himself before he finally drifted off.  He was certain that this had been one of the best Halloweens he'd had in a _very_ long time.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was really just an excuse to write a mess of stupidly fluffy Bagginshield. Also this was kind of due to the fact that I didn't really get a proper Halloween this year because I had class on that night and I miss trick or treating and all the hype around it...;;
> 
> I meant to get this chapter out sooner but the past couple days got away from me...I went back and made some little changes to the previous chapter and I'll probably continue to do so for this one as well over the next couple days.
> 
> Thank you again so much for reading! I'm thrilled with the response I've gotten! You guys are great!
> 
>  
> 
> [on tumblr~](http://hobbitunderthemountain.tumblr.com/post/99341006608/bilbo-isnt-looking-forward-to-attending-his)

**Author's Note:**

> An idea I had a couple days before Halloween, ignored every responsibility for the past three days and wrote to get out just in time for the holiday! So I apologize if there were any glaring mistakes, I didn't have as much time as I usually allow myself to go back and edit;; 
> 
> Even cutting things like lots of little side plots, this ended up getting ridiculously out of hand.....
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


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